The Herb King

137 Plans of Nurturing Subordinates

Aethelwolf was smoking a cigar on the balcony of his mansion. He was staring at the three beasts who were obviously bored after playing in the open field for a few hours. He was thinking about what he should do next now that he had dealt with the restructuring of his guards.

“Sir Aethelwolf, what is that thing?” He suddenly heard the curious voice of Hyacinth behind him. He turned his head at her and smiled while pointing at the cigar in between his lips. “You mean this? It’s called a cigar and it can help me adjust my mood to normal. Do you want to try?”

His cigar is different from the ones that existed in his old world. The ingredients he used to make them were all healthy and it can even make his airways clearer. Other than that, prolonged usage of his cigar could also improve one’s physical body.

Hyacinth looked curiously at the cigar as she nodded her head.

Aethelwolf handed her a piece and lit it up with his golden flames. “It’s simple to smoke a cigar, but I won’t teach you. It would be fun if you learn it by yourself.” He chuckled.

Hyacinth was watching him earlier so she has an idea of how to use it. She sucked on the cigar, but it made her cough violently.

Aethelwolf laughed and said. “Don’t be too impatient. For a beginner like you, just inhale in small amounts first.”

Knock! Knock! Knock!

.....

There were knocking sounds on the door and Aethelwolf immediately turned his head and saw that it was Rendell.

“Sir Aethelwolf, Sir Henry has sent someone. He is now waiting at the entrance of the mansion. He already prepared a carriage for you.” Rendell reported.

Aethelwolf’s eyes lit up upon hearing this. Henry was building his clothing shop and it should be done by now. “Alright. Take me to see him.” He then turned his gaze to Hyacinth and said. “Come with us. You should start familiarizing yourself with the people we are acquainted with. Next time, you will be the one dealing with them.”

Hyacinth was still holding the cigar between her fingers. It was something she learned by watching Aethelwolf. “Yes, Sir Aethelwolf.” She nodded her head.

Before leaving the mansion, Aethelwolf seriously warned Olivia and the other two beasts to behave themselves while he was away.

“If you guys don’t cause trouble, I will make something for the three of you. I believe that it would be useful for magical beasts like you so stay here obediently and don’t hurt anyone.” He stared at the three beasts, but they didn’t seem to be listening to him.

“I want to go with you. This place is boring. I might not be able to hold back the urge to beat up some humans if I remain here for a long time. Please bring me with you.” Olivia tilted her large bird head as she looked at Aethelwolf with eyes filled with hope.

“We also want to go! Don’t leave us here! The taste of the grass here is bland. We want to eat something else.” Kerrin and Alba expressed their discontent.

Black lines appeared on his forehead when he heard their words. “Fine, but remember what we agreed upon before. Don’t-”

“Don’t hurt anyone. Yes, we already know it. Come on! Let’s leave this place already!” The three beasts paced around restlessly.

Aethelwolf’s mouth twitched. They were magical beasts and creatures like them are supposed to live in the forest and not be confined to human territory. It was understandable that they would be restless since they weren’t domesticated magical beasts. Thinking about this, he said. “Alright. Alright. Just don’t cause trouble once we arrive at our destination.”

“Rendell, we will be using our carriage. Tie these two up.”

“O-Okay.” Rendell stared at the two tall Equuses. They were looking at him with harmless looks, but Rendell wouldn’t be fooled by their appearance. He knew that if Aethelwolf wasn’t here, these two creatures would certainly beat him up if he rubbed them the wrong way.

“Hyacinth, send someone to the Citizen Information Bureau. Tell them to create ten insignias for us using this design and tell them to inform the bureau that it will be the symbol of our Lassiter Household.” Aethelwolf handed the insignia he got from the Citizen Information Bureau to Hyacinth. He also handed her a small sack that was filled with gold cards.

Hyacinth nodded her head and hurriedly went back to the mansion to look for some people to do the task. She also decided to send four guards to go with the servants to ensure their safety.

After everything was prepared, Aethelwolf went inside the carriage with Hyacinth and Rendell, while Albert was the one responsible for driving the carriage. He planned to nurture these three so decided to bring them with him. He couldn’t just do all things on his own because it would exhaust him so he would train people he could trust and let them represent him in the future.

Rendell is a trustworthy young man who has the talent to become an expert. If he is nurtured well, he might even become the strongest Esper under his command. Next was Albert, a veteran commander who has a wide range of experience in combat and warfare. At the moment, he was Aethelwolf’s strongest subordinate and he might be the first one to become a Level 4 Esper among his people. And the last person was the newly hired Hyacinth. Although Aethelwolf hasn’t seen what she was fully capable of, he believed that he could train her management skill. She would be a valuable person once she managed to learn his teachings.

While he was absorbed in his thoughts, they soon arrived at the location of his clothing shop. It was a three-story building with a portion of its wall made of transparent glass. The building wasn’t completely finished and there were still some workers fixing the roof of the building.

“Sir Aethelwolf, we’re here.” Albert’s voice woke him up from his thoughts.